Yavneh defeated The Ramaz School 54-49 in The Joseph and Florence Weiner Memorial Tournament FINALS in Baltimore, Maryland Saturday night. The win improves the Bulldogs season record to 13-2 and the team has now won 10 games in a row.
In June of 2016 the city of Cleveland, Ohio won its first championship since 1964, the Chicago Cubs ended a 108-year World Series drought not 5 months later, and now the Yavneh Bulldogs have finally won a tournament with more than 4 teams. Following years of close calls and heartbreaking defeats at Sarachek, in Texas, and multiple times in the star-crossed city of Baltimore, the Bulldogs finally broke through Saturday to win their 13th game in 14 tries over the last two appearances at the Weiner Tournament. In a long weekend where the up-tempo, high pressure defensive style of the Red and Black gave fits to the Mighty Yeshiva League teams, this was a win for the heartland of America. The coasts always get their due but tonight was the coronation of a team that represented the central United States. It was a night where everyone was a Bulldog fan. For one 90 minute segment in time, it didn’t matter if you were a Trump, Hillary, Gary Johnson, or Kermit The Frog supporter as long as you knew it was a night for Yavneh to celebrate in their still undefeated Red alternate jerseys. It was the East Coast’s turn to recognize the state of Texas finally charmed to leave The Charm City with hardware not sold at The Home Depot. The pair of previous close, gut-wrenching losses on this very court did not come without their share of special individual performances in Yavneh lore and this championship was no exception to that rule. In one of the top 5 most heroic games in Yavneh history, Zachary Epstein scored a game-high, individual career high, and Tournament MVP achieving 23 points on 6 three pointers. Without question the best career game for an inspired Epstein capped an emotional and trying week in which his grandfather passed away.
Another slow start for Yavneh put them in serious peril with a pair of early unnecessary fouls against them to boot. Noah Rubinstein, who miraculously assisted 14 times in the two elimination games, hit Micah Romaner to knot the score at 2-2 nearly 3 minutes into the championship game. Romaner spear-headed the early attack with a legendary blocked shot that was so forceful it collapsed a pair of Ramaz players to the hardwood. Griffin Levine found Zach Epstein in the corner for his first of the 6 triples to stake the Bulldogs to their first advantage at 7-4. That lead doubled when Threpstein drilled another long distance dedication in succession. Levine, a catalyst all tournament long with his innate ability to turn defense into devastating runs all by himself, finished a transition layup and then set up Rubinstein for one of his patented lefty drives to open up a 14-4 edge. Daniel Chernikov, who was unstoppable for the majority of this tournament, got a nifty dish from Rubinstein at the first period fog horn to complete a 17-2 spurt. The 13-point lead after one quarter of play was everything that the Bulldogs have become with stifling defense (Ramaz shot 8%) and transition dominance fueling the offensive attack. The second period was not as kind to Yavneh with Ramaz making up ground on a 10-2 run off of mostly mistakes. Unforced turnovers and the lack of box outs let Ramaz right back into the game at 19-14 before Epstein on the spot tamed the Rams with a run-stopping runner in the lane. Romaner and Chernikov ended the half with put-backs to secure a 23-17 lead for halftime. In a shooting effort typical of the Weiner Tournament championship games of the past, the two teams combined for 2/18 three point shooting with the only makes coming from the man of the night who scored 10 first half points.
The game became ugly in the second half as it was clear that the Bulldogs were in a battle so eerily similar to the previous two championship games where a couple plays down the stretch would decide the winner. Whenever Ramaz got right to the doorstep, Epstein was able to barely lock the door…in triplicate. One bomb made the score 26-17 and, after 5 straight Ramaz points, the bank was open real late on a Saturday evening in Pikesville, Maryland for a NO-YES Epstein hit. At 29-22, Yavneh was once again close to pulling away when the Rams used a 9-2 uprising to even the score at 31-31. With the roof caving in, Daniel Chernikov delivered the play of his life with an assertive AND ONE to re-spark the fire for his team at 34-31 with less than a minute to be played in the third period. Speaking of, Jonah Eber followed with his own version of an And-One mix tape in globe-trottering an assist to Rubinstein for the old 2 shot/1 rebound finish. Eber and Chernikov hooked up on a DC21 special so close to the District of Columbia to beat the third quarter buzzer for a 38-31 lead heading into the final stanza. The first half of the fourth period was a nail-biter with Ramaz chipping into the lead only to see a Levine to Rubinstein slide finish on the baseline for 40-35 with 5:10 to play. A 4-point run back for Ramaz cut the once 15 point lead to a single point, almost identical to the teams first meeting Wednesday. With 3:58 to go in the tournament, this could not possibly be happening again to a team that has more unfortunate and untimely droughts in the Hurwitz Gym than any team should have to bear. The only difference this time around was that Superman was in the building and he was wearing #0 in alternate Red. Epstein buried two more three balls in a 32 second span to turn the 1 point lead into a 46-39 game with 3:26 remaining. Levine dug in for a critical leaping defensive rebound to go with a pair of offensive rebounds that freed him up for an opposite corner three pointer to restore a double-digit edge that was the ultimate back-breaker for a feisty Ramaz group. The Manhattan school would fight until the end but nothing could derail the Bulldog train that had one championship destination on this occasion. Zach Epstein’s performance for the ages finished with 23 points and the Tournament MVP. The timing and importance of nearly every one of the 23 points will not be forgotten for a long time. Griffin Levine, who was by far and away the best player in this tournament as a whole, scored 10 more points and earned First Team All-Tournament honors. Levine established his dominance as the leader of this team over the 7 games in 4 days and was un-guardable for nearly the entirety of the tournament. Daniel Chernikov added another key double-double effort with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Also a First Team All-Tournament selection, Chernikov came up large in this tournament when the steaks were at their highest on the top floor. Noah Rubinstein gobbled up 12 more rebounds and 7 assists in addition to scoring 6 points and earned a Second Team All-Tournament selection in the process. Rubinstein rarely left the playing floor in any of the 7 games and willed his team to victory in several key areas. Micah Romaner pulled in 6 rebounds in what was one of many gritty games in this tournament for the enforcer in the paint.
Yavneh (13-2) is rolling with 10 wins in a row (the last three having scored exactly 54 points) and will essentially have a month to prepare for their next big hurdle, winning a tough 7-team district. Now that they are tournament slayers, the Bulldogs take their talents to the Dallas First Baptist Tournament December 19th and 20th in search of more hardware. With the pace and defensive pressure that this team is throwing at opponents, it is clear that improved shooting and a slight improvement on the defensive glass will make it virtually impossible to stop this group. TAPPS 3A probably does not have the Beth Tfiloh Tournament on their radar but the lessons learned and success achieved in Baltimore the week after Thanksgiving 2016 is about to be one huge springboard that will turn the race for State upside down.
The Kennel Report, now in its 13th season, is written by…
Zack Pollack M&M
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